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Later maturing soybean crop makes way for more waterhemp

A Midwest agronomist is seeing more waterhemp in soybean fields this season.

Cory Muhlbauer with Precision Planting tells Brownfield that is one downfall of a later maturing crop.

“It may not close the canopy and get the soybeans far enough ahead to line up well with herbicide programs. If we get dryer pockets, especially in the lighter soils, we don’t get the growth out of the soybeans that we need and the waterhemp will just poke right through.”

He says waterhemp is getting increasingly difficult for conventional growers to manage.

“In some ways it is almost turning into like managing an organic field or something, they just don’t have the herbicide programs to manage these tough weeds we are dealing with today.”

Muhlbauer says he has seen more bean walking crews this year and heard farmers talk about bringing weed wipers back to help manage waterhemp in soybeans.